Vietnamese artist Nguyen Nhu Duc, born in 1980 in Hanoi, belongs to the 8X generation of artists. His artistic journey began with his first paintings of the city streets.
In 2014, Nguyen Nhu Duc left Hanoi and found a new home in Hoi An, a place that became his second hometown. There, Duc led a quiet life, taking on various jobs to make a living while also nurturing his passion for art, with family becoming his main source of inspiration.
For the past 11 years, Nguyen Nhu Duc has kept a low profile. He dedicates months, sometimes years, to completing a single painting. His works are often large in scale, densely detailed, not easily collectible, and not created with commercial goals in mind. To him, each painting is a place to pause, not a stepping stone to climb higher.
Duc’s paintings fall under the category of “super-realism,” meaning they are inspired by dreams and imagination, but the images within are concrete and distinct. As a result, viewers stepping into his surreal world still feel a sense of familiarity and are not overwhelmed by strangeness.
Recently, Nguyen Nhu Duc marked his return with 32 new works centered on the theme Motherland, created using oil paint and the surrealist style. He embarked on this journey guided by his own memories.
Despite their surrealist style, Duc’s paintings remain rooted in real life. They feature important women in the artist’s life—his mother, wife, and daughter—as symbols: shoulders to lean on, hands to hold, and eyes to comfort. They are fantastical creatures amidst nature.
“Even in the surreal realm, I believe everyone will find a piece of themselves in my paintings,” says Duc. “Mother—whether she is your biological mother, wife, daughter, or the land of your homeland—holds a sacred place in everyone’s heart.”
Among the standout pieces in this collection are Listening to the Leaves Sing, which depicts an imaginary garden where the past and future meet and women from both worlds coexist, and 13 Moons in the Garden, where “Motherland” is portrayed as a dream floating between layers of memories and emotions, guided by the moon—a symbol of femininity—through a world of legends that is both familiar and strange.
Artist Le Thiet Cuong remarks: “Motherhood is a grand theme, sometimes even abstract, not always visible in our daily lives, but always surrounding us in the little stories we tell. Through his art, Duc has transformed this grand, abstract theme into tangible, everyday stories that are intimate and simple, via the path of surrealism.”
In addition to his artistic endeavors, Nguyen Nhu Duc also teaches a free summer painting class for children in Hoi An. His class does not aim to produce professional artists but instead focuses on helping children maintain their sense of perception, play with colors, and live authentically through their emotions.
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